Releases

Workspaces, timeline tools, and performance

Alchemist 0.6.0 makes both editing surfaces substantially more capable. The web editor gains a dockable workspace with selectable layouts, timeline tools and razor edits, shared timecode overlays, hover-based trim handles, a central processing queue, WAV waveforms, playback telemetry, and new decode controls. The native editor gains its own dockable panel workspace, image-sequence workflows, DNxHD/DNxHR MXF support, R3D enabled by default, and a broad round of timeline and transport refinements.

• feat(web): dockable layout tree with edge-drop splits and center swap
• Add timeline tools and razor split support
• Extract shared timecode overlay components and helpers
• feat(web): restore monitor playback and add selectable layouts
• feat(web): bottom status bar backed by a central processing queue

Metadata, performance, and app decomposition

This release added browser media-metadata extraction and source/record timecode support with OpenTimelineIO round-tripping. A repeatable performance harness then exposed and removed per-frame timeline and program-lookup bottlenecks. The web app’s 6,400-line composition root was decomposed into focused controller hooks and panels.

• Source/record timecode support, @alchemist/metadata package, and improvement plans
• fix(otio): import tracks with track 1 nearest the divider
• Fix OpenGraph image and Vercel deploy
• chore(perf): performance measurement harness for plans 005/007
• perf(playback): index program clip resolution instead of per-frame scan
• perf(timeline): decouple playhead from scene rebuild
• refactor(web): decompose 6,400-line App.tsx into controller hooks + panels

OTIO, projects, and WebGPU timeline

This release made Alchemist projects portable and the timeline substantially richer. Client-side OpenTimelineIO import/export arrived with portable media references, local relinking, previews, and OTIOZ playback, while the new WebGPU timeline renderer added stereo waveform LOD, audio extraction, and faster local-media thumbnails. The editing workspace gained separate source and program monitors, still-image rendering, a decoder debug panel, Projects home, History and Tools panels, and improved navigation.

• Add Decoder Debug workspace panel
• Add WebGPU timeline renderer package
• OTIO interchange + off-thread local-media previews
• Add separate Source and Program monitors
• Stereo waveform LOD + efficient-audio extraction
• Render still images on the timeline
• Add web home screen, Projects model, and sample OTIOZ import

Frame.io, audio, and editor foundations

This release expanded Alchemist from its R3D foundation into a much broader editing system. Frame.io gained asset browsing, streamed proxy playback, scrub sheets, cache status, and adaptive scrubbing, while the timeline gained audio playback, waveforms, linked-clip controls, edit history, and audio-clocked program transport. The editor also added HDR display targeting, sequence gamma/PAR/LUT settings, PWA installation, an external program monitor, preferences, and shared UI primitives.

• Add timeline audio playback support
• feat(frameio): add initial Frame.io asset support
• feat(sequences): persist display gamma, PAR, and output LUT in sequence settings
• feat(preview): apply sequence display gamma in the WebGPU compositor
• feat(frameio): scrub sheets, cache status, and parallel proxy ladder
• feat(playback): timeline audio, waveforms, FrameWindowPlayer, and track UX
• feat(preview): HDR display targeting, PlayerCanvas, and compositor color pipeline
• feat(web): installable PWA + anamorphic PAR presets

Playback and WebGPU fixes

This maintenance release hardened the new WebGPU playback path. Deferred texture destruction eliminated invalid scope submissions, while a persistent animation loop kept scopes updating throughout playback instead of only after resize events. It also refined playback and UI behavior and introduced keyboard shortcuts for fullscreen, select-all, and creating a new sequence.

• feat: enhance UI components and playback features
• feat: add app keyboard shortcuts for fullscreen, select-all, and new sequence
• fix(webgpu): defer texture destruction; stop scope debug submit errors
• fix(scopes): persistent rAF so scopes update during playback, not just on resize
• fix: drop unused params in R3DPreview handleImageLoad

WebGPU foundation

Alchemist’s first historical release established the browser editor’s media foundation. It brought native-browser R3D parsing into @alchemist/r3d, upgraded the RED SDK integration to 9.2.0, and added sparse preview and batch frame decoding. The editing surface gained file access, sequence and playback controls, a program monitor, clip-speed controls, and stronger filmstrips. The preview compositor and scopes also moved onto one shared WebGPU pipeline, retiring the PixiJS/WebGL2 path.

• Enhance R3D SDK integration and add GOP support
• Implement sparse frame decoding and preview upload functionality
• Extract @alchemist/r3d package and replace ffprobe-wasm with native browser R3D parsing
• Enhance App component with sequence management and playback controls
• Implement program monitor functionality in App component
• Migrate preview pipeline to 100% WebGPU; remove PixiJS and WebGL2

Workspaces, timeline tools, and performance

Alchemist 0.6.0 makes both editing surfaces substantially more capable. The web editor gains a dockable workspace with selectable layouts, timeline tools and razor edits, shared timecode overlays, hover-based trim handles, a central processing queue, WAV waveforms, playback telemetry, and new decode controls. The native editor gains its own dockable panel workspace, image-sequence workflows, DNxHD/DNxHR MXF support, R3D enabled by default, and a broad round of timeline and transport refinements.

• feat(native): image sequence support with Interpret Footage and missing-frame slates
• feat(native): vendor turbovc3 as libs/ submodule for native and web
• Add Adobe-style dockable panel workspace to the native app
• Native: DNxHD/DNxHR MXF via turbovc3 Zig package, R3D on by default
• fix(Native): serialize R3D derivative decode and harden playback batching

Native macOS mini-NLE

This release introduced Alchemist Native, a fully native macOS mini-NLE built in Zig on Vercel’s Native SDK. It grew from its first source monitor and timeline into EDL-driven program playback, editing tools, audio, color controls, export foundations, a media bin, sequence persistence, and project reopen support. The shared media stack also gained ProRes and DNx whole-media playback, DNx/MXF support through turbovc3, whole-file audio, and software filmstrips.

• Add ProRes and DNx whole-media playback
• Add DNx MXF playback and software filmstrips
• Add whole-file audio playback and switch DNx/MXF to turbovc3
• Add Alchemist Native: fully-native macOS mini-NLE on Vercel Native SDK (M0-M4)
• Add EDL-driven program playback across cuts (M5)
• Add media bin, import, and sequence persistence (M6)